from the foot-stomping-nonsense dept

Oh, Apple. As someone who (as yet) has no children, it's been an educational experience watching the company's reaction to a UK judge ordering them to put a public apology on their website over false claims that Samsung copied them. From the very beginning, it felt like Apple had gone out of its way to prepare me for raising children. It all started with a little "But, Daaaaad! He's copying me!" Then, once parental admonishment is administered, Apple went into what child psychologists call "pouty-pants mode," with the kind of apology statement that was almost literally playing one parent/country off of another, by which I refer to their referring to the fact that all of the other countries' judges that had ruled opposite of the UK courts. And when the UK courts were less than thrilled with that petulance, they issued another apology, with a link buried at the bottom of the page -- using a little javascript magic to ensure that you wouldn't see it unless you were specifically looking for it. If this isn't a perfect analogy for a young child mumbling a half-hearted apology to his little brother for kicking him, I don't know what is, but I thank Apple for all the lessons in child-rearing they've given me. I feel, having watched the judge in this case, I have a good understanding on how to handle a petulant child.

"Cry all you want, no dessert until you issue your mother a web-based apology, you little poop-machine" Image source: CC BY 2.0

The good news is that Apple has quietly removed this digital monument to foot-stomping, but only after Hacker News and Reddit blew up about it. Apparently, at some point since Monday, amidst the kind of backlash normally reserved for US Senators discussing women's health issues, Apple pretended like the whole thing never happened.

As pointed out by CNET, the Javascript code in question is still on Apple's site, but it just isn't being used any more. The code ensured that the iPad mini advertisement would take up the whole page; regardless of your resolution, you would't be able to see the statement without scrolling down the page.

While the code's main purpose wasn't necessarily to hide the apology (Apple has been pushing a more vertically-responsive design on its international sites for a while now), it's very likely that putting the text in question at the bottom of its UK site, where the code would hide it, was on purpose. Apple's decision to stop using the code, in fact, points to this being the case.

Way to go, Apple. You managed to get to the place you should have been all along in the most petulant, drawn out way possible. Exactly what I would have done...back when I was six years old.